Press Releases

Palm Desert, CA – Today, Congressman Raul Ruiz, M.D. released a new report prepared by the staff of the Committee on Oversight and Reform and Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties detailing the dire costs of an undercount for California's 36^th Congressional District. With just 20 days left to respond to the Census, Dr. Ruiz is urging residents to complete their Census forms immediately before the impending deadline.

Washington, DC – Today, Congressman Raul Ruiz, M.D. (CA-36) led 60 Members of Congress in calling on the Trump Administration to create a COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan now that prioritizes health equity. In a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, Rep. Ruiz urged the Secretary to take a strategic, public health approach to vaccine distribution that prioritizes those at risk for transmission and dying of the disease, such as essential workers, seniors, individuals with pre-existing conditions, and communities of color.

Thermal, CA – Today, Congressman Raul Ruiz, M.D. (CA-36) – a physician and Southern California Congressman – donned PPE and administered COVID-19 tests to farmworkers in the eastern Coachella Valley. Farmworkers are essential workers who are at an increased risk of COVID-19 infection due to working and living conditions. Congressman Ruiz, who is the son of farmworkers himself, administered today's tests alongside the Coachella Valley Volunteers in Medicine – a volunteer medical group he helped found.

Washington, DC – This week, the House of Representatives passed two important bills that contain provisions written by Congressman Raul Ruiz, M.D. that will strengthen the federal, state, and local partnership to mitigate the impending public health crisis at the Salton Sea.

Washington, DC – Today, Congressman Raul Ruiz, M.D. advocated for improved drinking water standards to protect underserved communities like the Oasis Mobile Home Park in Thermal, California. Dr. Ruiz, who is also Vice-Chair of the Environment and Climate Change Subcommittee, called for reforms to the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) to make clean drinking water more accessible and affordable during today's hearing entitled, "There's Something in the Water: Reforming Our Nation's Drinking Water Standards."

Washington, DC – Congressman Raul Ruiz, M.D. (CA-36) is calling on the IRS to expedite stimulus checks to people who still have not received their Economic Impact Payments (stimulus checks) and to be more responsive in answering inquiries about the status of pending checks. In a letter to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Charles Rettig, Dr. Ruiz said his office had submitted 80 inquiries and received fewer than 20 responses from the IRS.

Washington, DC – Congressman Raul Ruiz, M.D. (CA-36) is putting pressure on companies to ensure vulnerable populations and frontline workers have access to COVID-19 vaccines. During a House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations hearing, Dr. Ruiz questioned executives on their vaccine distribution plans to address health disparities.

Washington, DC – Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed four of Dr. Ruiz's bills as amendments to address the military's use of toxic burn pits. The four pieces of legislation, which passed as part of H.R. 6395, the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2021, would expand the Burn Pits Registry, enhance medical training on the health effects of burn pits, increase reporting of burn pit exposure, and require a status update from the Department of Defense on all burn pits research.